Tag: Rev 13

Today, Coffee with the King begins a new series in Revelation. Last year, we looked at Revelation 1-11. (We also spent some time looking at how we read Revelation. If you missed that, it’s worth reading it first, or you might have trouble working out what’s going on.) Today, we start with chapter 13. What happened to chapter 12, you ask? I’m saving that for our Christmas special in a month…

If you have ever: made the sign of the cross, owned a bankcard, gained entry to something using a barcode, used Microsoft software or attended church on a Sunday… then someone, somewhere thinks you have the mark of the beast.

Yesterday, we began a new series in Revelation, starting with chapter 13. You really need to start there for this week’s material to make sense. Having identified the mark of the beast as emperor worship, we now start at the beginning of the chapter, to see what Revelation has to say about the practice.

The beast from the sea

John introduces us to the beast imagery at the start of chapter 13. And as we work our way through the chapter, you’ll see how he’s using it to critique the Roman Empire and the cult of emperor worship. To present it how God sees it, rather than how Rome and their PR consultants would have you see it.

On Monday, we began a new series in Revelation, starting with chapter 13. You really need to start there for this week’s material to make sense. We identified the mark of the beast as emperor worship, and saw how the beast from the sea represented the blasphemous, self-aggrandising dictator that was the Roman emperor. Today, we meet a second beast.

The beast from the land

Revelation then introduces another image; a second beast.

Revelation 13:11 Then I saw a second beast, coming out of the land. It had two horns like a lamb, but it spoke like a dragon.